Failed 2nd year med school: need advice on matching into peds

[tacoman2493]

OK I need some help here. I'm applying in peds. I go to a top 5 med school. However I failed the 2nd year of med school and had to retake it due to family problems at home. My clinical grades are OK, but not great. Peds = pass, peds subI = honors, IM = pass, got honors in 2 IM subIs. Everything else is a straight pass. Have a couple of publications and lots of research experience but the field has absolutely nothing to do with pediatrics.

I have excellent letters of recommendation (I've been told this by both my Dean and one of my interviewers who read my file).

I have an average step I score, 225. I havent taken Step 2 yet.

I've been offered interviews at every place I've applied so far except those programs that dont send out interviews until deans letters come in. I was shocked to get interviews from UTSW and Baylor, those are my reach programs and I thought they would reject me outright.

My #1 choice is Southwestern by leaps and bounds. I would sign a contract today outside the match if they would let me do that.

2 questions:

1) Do I have any shot at all of matching at UTSW or is the interview just something to get my hopes up?

2) If I just rank those programs listed above and dont apply anywhere else, do you think there's a chance I wont match.

I'm worried that failing the 2nd year is going to doom me in the match process, even at the lower tier programs. I think I have a good explanation for this and am ready to explain it, and my dean even backed me up on it in the deans letter, but regardless I'm sure I'm the only applicant to any of htese programs who actually failed a year so I'm sure that puts me at a huge disadvantage regardless of everything else on my app.

One of the PDs at the places I already interviewed at (lower tier program) told me that I would get "bonus points" for being a male. Apparently their program is 90% female and they want more men in the program. I realize that kind of gender affirmative action wont apply at a place like Baylor or UTSW because they are higher caliber and draw from a wider applicant pool, but I'm still curious as to how much effect this might have at some smaller programs.

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[m1234d]

all i can say, is that i've been told time and time again: once you get an interview, it's a level playing field. good luck.

 

[14022]

Trust me, you are not the only person who had something like this happen to them. As long as you can explain what the problem was, how you fixed it, and what you learned about yourself from the situation then you will be fine. Adversity isnt uncommon and overcoming adversity can sometimes do more for you than never facing adversity at all.

Keep in mind that none of those programs are very competitive. The south is probably the least competitive region in the US for residency. Even an outstanding program like Baylor has a relatively harder time recruiting people to Houston in relation to places like california and east coast, as indicated by the fact they Baylor pays for applicants airfare and hotel (do they still do this???).

Your step score is very good for peds, especially for those programs. From the sound of it, your letters are very good, as is your dean's letter, which helps a ton. Now you just need to interview and make them realize the letters are true. Show them in an interview you are who the letters say, not what your transcript says, and you will be fine.

 

[swannliz]

i think you are underestimating yourself. i think coming from a top 5 medical school with great letters of recommendation and a very good step 1 score. i wouldn't count you out for the top programs honestly, especially if you can explain the M2 year situation well, etc. the step 1 score helps you out alot--my 2 cents. shows you know your stuff even if you had issues with finishing second year.

 

[Galen8]

"Trust me, you are not the only person who had something like this happen to them. As long as you can explain what the problem was, how you fixed it, and what you learned about yourself from the situation then you will be fine. Adversity isn't uncommon and overcoming adversity can sometimes do more for you than never facing adversity at all."


TacoMan, the advice from Scholes is right on the money.

I'd add to that, for you to make sure,- please work on it if you haven't-
that you have a system in place so that if a similar situation were to occur while in training,
it's not going to be distuptive. The interviewers have a responsibility to other competing candidates as well,
and you must make them believe that they're not making a mistake
if you're not able to keep your side of the bargain.

Take the advice from someone who's been there.
After the second year of having been accepted into a pediatric residency program,
a couple of my attendings warmed up to me and confessed that
having Plan A--and back-ups for Plan A too, in case it failed-- in place
convinced them that, in a tie,
I was the most deserving candidate.
Until recently, women in peds were the minority;
so they were risking a lot more then.

And about your overall grades and score...Relax.
You're already above average.
Good luck!

 

[jimmybee]

Although I don't know those programs in detail, I would say that you have a decent shot at all of them. If you didn't match, I would be surprised.

 

[tacoman2493]

What if I applied to some programs as med/peds and other programs as peds-only?

Is that going to screw up the match computer and make it more likely that I wont match?

How does the match computer work? Does it run by specialty? For example, does the med-peds match run first and THEN the peds-only match?

Lets assume my rank list looks like this:

1) Peds
2) Med/peds
3) Med/peds
4) Med/peds
5) Med/peds
6) Peds
7) Peds
8) Peds

 

[14022]

In terms of how the computer does the match process, ranking multiple specilaties will not change the likeli hood of matching. You will still match at the highest ranked program on your list that ranked you high enough to match. You can read about the actual algorithm on the NRMP wedsite.

However, I would not recommend applying to both peds and med-peds. You will likely be applying to the same programs for each and it may show a lack of commitment to a specialty. If you are honest with the program with your reasons of applying to both and have a legitimate reason for doing so, it may not make a difference. But I know for a fact that we did not rank a certain applicant last year because she applied to both peds and med-peds at our program, did not indicate to the directors that she did so, and told both PD's that they were her number one choice. There were other people that were not ranked very highly because they went about the process in a shady manner or didn't have a good reason to apply to both. The last thing a program wants is a resident who may leave after a year to pursue another specialty, and it is not as easy as it may seem to switch from med-peds to peds or vice-versa within a given program.

But that being said, aren't you applying now anyways? So did you already apply to both, or are you thinking about sending your app to med-peds programs now? If you did apply to both, be careful. Remember that the peds PD is involved in the applicant selection process for med-peds too.

If you honestly like both, go for it, but don't do med-peds because you think you may not match into peds. First of all, I still think you arent going to have a problem matching into peds. Second, med-peds is an awful compromise for someone who only likes peds. Your residency is a year longer, you miss out on a lot of pediatric elective opportunities, and you have to sit for and pay for 2 boards exams. Not worth it if you are going to end up only doing peds anyways.

 

[jimmybee]

I personally would not apply to both at the same time due to the implication that you are not dedicated to one or the other. However, I have known people that have done this and had it work out for them. Most people I know were very up front about it and at some places, they had to explain it multiple times. I think the best excuse that works is an applicant who wants to be in a specific area. For instance, I know someone who ranked both Med/Peds and peds at my program because they really wanted to stay here and the lack of nearby competing programs. They got their peds spot that they wanted, but was prepared to do Med/Peds if they wanted.

No Med/Peds director wants an applicant who just goes into Med/Peds because they can't decide on one or the other or because they didn't get into their categorical preference. However, contrary to the last post, I think that switching from a Med/Peds program into a categorical program is not that hard if you do it early (in your intern year). Our program has had at least one person either switch out of Med/Peds or into it from a categorical program each of the last three years.

That was a common question that I asked on my interviews: How many people have switched out of Med/Peds in your program. I was thinking that this would give me an idea of whether residents liked the Med/Peds program and the quality of their experiences. Having seen a few residents switch, I have found that they were never completely into Med/Peds in the first place. We all have tendencies towards one or the other, but some are more heavily slanted. Those are the people who switch.

If you want to do Peds, just rank peds programs and don't do your med/peds interviews. You will match. Just rank a lot of programs. Your numbers are better than mine (aside from the second year thing). I ended up alright at a program that is at least equal to most of the programs that you listed.

 

[14022]

However, contrary to the last post, I think that switching from a Med/Peds program into a categorical program is not that hard if you do it early (in your intern year).

I wholeheartedly disagree with this. Remember that the only reason you would be in the med-peds program is because you did not match into the peds program in the first place. Why would a program go out of their way to accomodate a person who they initially denied for pediatrics, who ended upn reluctuantly matching into the med-peds program, and who is know leaving the med-peds program one resident short? A resident at my program tried to go from med-peds to peds within the first four months of intern year, but the peds program told him he could apply to match into the peds program the following year and start again as an intern.

 

[tacoman2493]

You guys got me all wrong. I'm applying to both because there arent enough med/peds programs in the geographical area that I want. I'm not applying to both peds and med/peds at the same programs. So unless the PDs at different institutions call each other and ask about their applicants (which I think should be illegal) then they are not going to know that I'm applying to both.

I want to be in Dallas as my #1 choice, and there are no med/peds programs there so thats why I'm applying peds as the #1 slot.

 

[jimmybee]

I'm not saying that PDs like people switching, I'm just saying that I've seen it happen a few times and it wasn't that big of a deal. Ultimately, I think a good program director wants all of their residents to be happy whether it is in their program or someone elses.